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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28085403">Broken, yet Free</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowleyshipsdestiel666/pseuds/Crowleyshipsdestiel666'>Crowleyshipsdestiel666</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Raffles - E. W. Hornung</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Don't get me wrong, Gen, I love fix-it fics where raffles lives, Kind of shippy, POV First Person, Stream of Consciousness, but not really, but this... is not one of them, post KotG</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:21:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>334</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28085403</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowleyshipsdestiel666/pseuds/Crowleyshipsdestiel666</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bunny reflects on his life with Raffles.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Broken, yet Free</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the first fic I've ever written, so please be nice! That being said, I welcome friendly criticism.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>I walk away from the Boer War a broken man. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And yet, somehow, I am free.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>My entire life I was stuck, like a rock by the side of the road. Stuck, in the world of Raffles. I was ensnared in all of it, in the jewels, in the exhilaration of our adventures, in the constant threat of being caught, but most of all, in </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Raffles, the brilliant, shining, gentleman thief. He shone like the sun, and I soaked in his presence my entire life. So many nights I spent following him, carrying that little bottle of rock oil, waiting for him to need it. So many nights I spent waiting for him to return with a glint in his eye and diamonds in his pockets. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I spent my life revolving around him. From that first day at school when he took me under his wing, I worshiped him, and he knew it. He felt sorry for me, the naïve little fourth year who couldn’t stand up for himself. He protected me and I doted on him, polishing his cricket bats, writing his verses, and, most prophetically, letting down the rope for Raffles to climb, hand over hand, following his evening exploits.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And when, ten years later, he saved me again, it was as if no time had passed. Freed from my debt, I followed him again. He was the shining sun and I was Icarus, daring to fly too close, unmindful of my wax and feather wings. I was dazzled, constantly hovering on the edge of burning up and I was addicted to it. To him. I forgot what it was to be without him. I forgot who I was without him. I thought it could last forever. But the universe is fickle and he burnt out, exploding in a supernova that left me alone, blinking, in the dark.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All my life I spent holding that pistol to my head that was Raffles, and now, at last, it’s time to let go.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I may expand this into a series, but I don't know.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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